Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Con-Man Double Event: Brewer Brothers & San Fernando Con

After driving up north on Saturday, Sunday morning we headed down to Orange County for a first visit to the Brewer Brothers Model Kit, Hobby & Toy Expo in Huntington Beach. I heard about this show from the great forum over at HissTank.com and thought it would be interesting to check out a new show out of our usual spectrum. I lived in OC for a couple of years, it's a great place to be with open roads designed in squares, easy access to the beach, lots of movie theaters, plenty of food, on and on. Brewer Bro's was held at the Old World Village, a curious outpost across from the new and modern Bella Terra center. Set up like a German village, Old World has restaurants, shops, a bakery and motel in a quaintly designed, near theme park like setting. The show was nothing like we'd ever seen, just tables of models, statues and books focusing mainly on World War II and the military. People were walking out with stacks of model planes and cars to build and paint and I realized that this was a hobby that took more doing than just reading comics or placing action figures on your shelf. It was a pretty happening show, everyone was nice and as often happens we were the youngest attendees there I think. There was even a lunch buffet being served next door and their next show is straight World War II with veterans speaking and a mock air drop!

After some walking around and trying an apple strudel, it was back to the 405 the opposite direction, past home and up to the San Fernando Valley for their Comic Book Convention. Housed in an events center next to a Trader Joe's, the SFVCBC is located caddy corner from the pizzeria Ron Perlman owns in Drive! The show itself was like last week's event at The Reef, just a bunch of tables and a few actors set up selling comics, swag and toys. Exhibitors were nice as I continue to learn about conventions from a business side and how many of these folks don't work out of physical stores, instead traveling the circuit or selling online. Picked up a few cheap comics before we headed over to a friends house in the area where I traded a Rambo III theater program for a fistful of magazines and even a press kit!